The 100 episode 11 review: The Calm

The 100 has proved itself a gutsy, intelligent sci-fi show that pushes past expectations. Here's Caroline's review of The Calm...

This review contains spoilers.

1.11 The Calm

As suggested by the title of this week’s The 100, The Calm, this hour was mainly preoccupied with set-up for the first season’s final stretch, putting some core characters in mortal danger, teasing prospective romances that’ll undoubtedly get shippers’ backs up and fleshing out the bad guys a little more. It wasn’t the most thrilling or thought-provoking hour the show has ever produced, but it did a good job of building on the things already covered in the preceding ten episodes while also introducing new intrigue in time for the two-part finale.

The least amount of time was devoted to the story we were probably all waiting on, which was the aftermath of the events of the Ark. Coming back from the last thing we saw of this side of the show – the crash and apparent death of Abby – it felt as if we’d missed a few beats but, with so much going on and only a limited time left for the show to resolve things, maybe that’s understandable. What we know is that the adult survivors are running out of air, and they’ll have to get down to Earth pretty sharpish if they’re going to stand a chance of being in season two. There’s also a new guy whose motives I’m already suspicious of.

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Another question mark hangs over Finn who, after being captured by the Grounders along with Clarke, has apparently been killed in exchange for a child fatally injured by the hundred’s bomb. Now, we can assume that this isn’t really the case, given that he’s essentially the romantic lead of the series (though Bellamy, as predicted, is sneaking up fast), but his demise does at least push Clarke over yet another line she wouldn’t have dreamed of crossing just a few short weeks ago. Watching her kill that Grounder, along with her stony face afterwards, demonstrated again how far this show is willing to push its characters.

And, disregarding the already-tired Finn/Clarke romance, another side of the emerging love square manifested itself this week. Bellamy and Raven might not be a match any fans were clamouring for, but it’s certainly more interesting than any pairings the show has thrown at us so far. It’ll more than likely be a way for the writers to eventually push Clarke and Bellamy together, especially if Finn has indeed been killed, but I have a feeling that we’ll have to wait a while before that one plays out. The romances are still the least effective part of The 100, and that doesn’t look likely to change any time soon.

But the rest of the show is just getting better and better each week, with a genuine threat in the Grounders, a Romeo and Juliet-esque element with Octavia and Lincoln, two flawed and often ineffective leaders in Bellamy and Clarke and, now, the notion that the hundred and the surviving residents of the Ark may actually have done more harm than good since they arrived. The strife up above has meant that it’s completely plausible to think Kane, the Chancellor, Abby et al will join their progeny before the season is out, and this gets me very excited for the upcoming second season.

The 100 has proven, pretty much out of nowhere, to be a ballsy, intelligent sci-fi show that, with only two weeks left, is still pushing past expectations. With the last two episodes a two-parter, we can expect lots of action and bloodshed with, given that the show has already been blessed with a second season renewal, a big cliffhanger to keep us interested over the break. See you next week! 

Read Caroline’s review of the previous episode, I Am Become Death, here.

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